1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigeration cycle apparatus in which an exhaust-heat recovery operation can be performed by simultaneously operating air cooling and water heating.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is a type of refrigeration cycle apparatus that includes an outdoor heat source unit and a refrigerant circuit formed by connecting an indoor unit and a water heating unit by piping. The refrigeration cycle apparatus is capable of operating air cooling and water heating separately in a single system, and also capable of operating air cooling and water heating simultaneously (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2010-196950). In this system, exhaust heat generated at the time of air cooling can be recovered for water heating by simultaneously performing an air cooling operation and water heating. Thus, a highly efficient operation can be achieved.
In such type of refrigeration cycle apparatus, by controlling the capacity by using an inverter device as a control device for driving a compressor of an outdoor heat source unit, energy saving is further improved. The inverter device is constituted by a plurality of switching elements, and because a high voltage and a large current flow through the switching elements, a heat loss occurs. The heat loss is forcibly air-cooled by a fan for a refrigerant air-heat exchanger through radiating fins (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 5-196262).
However, according to the above conventional techniques, when exhaust heat is recovered by a simultaneous operation of air cooling and water heating, although the compressor of the outdoor heat source unit is required to be operated, the fan of the outdoor heat source unit is not required to be operated because heat exchange is not necessary in the refrigerant air-heat exchanger. On the other hand, when the compressor is driven by the inverter device, it is necessary to operate a fan to radiate the heat in the inverter device. Therefore, there has been a problem in that the operation efficiency is degraded by the power input to the fan.
The present invention has been achieved in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a refrigeration cycle apparatus that can achieve a high efficiency operation at the time of an exhaust-heat recovery operation.